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Australian Devils wheelchair basketball captain Annabelle Dennis has praised her teammates for their refusal to give in, despite tough results at the U25 Women’s World Championship in Thailand.
The Devils featured a particularly young team at the tournament – eight of the 12 players will be eligible for the next edition in 2027 – and were drawn in a strong pool against the US, Great Britain, Spain and China. The team went winless until they defeated South Africa in the play-off for ninth spot.
The Devils have finished their World Championship campaign on a high note as they defeated South Africa in a 20-point victory. đź‘Ź #WeAreBasketball pic.twitter.com/WF400EXAv4
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) October 8, 2023
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“Not winning can be disheartening, but it made us want to go out there and do better the next game,” Dennis said. “I think everyone’s perseverance and resilience was amazing.
“At the past three U25 World Championships Australia has placed second, so we went in there with a few high expectations from some people. I think we did really well considering how young the squad is.
“We progressed as a team and got better. I’m still really proud of how everyone did. I’m a little disappointed (with the results), but it happens and I think it just makes everyone want to get better.”
While this Devils squad will likely provide the nucleus of Gliders teams at LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032, Dennis is eyeing the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and said the tournament in Thailand had prepared her well for the upcoming Gliders selection camp and Paralympic qualifiers.
The same can be said for Isabel Martin, who was part of the Gliders Tokyo 2020 squad and a member of the silver medal-winning 2019 U25 World Championship team.
“It was definitely a tough tournament, we were in a really tough pool, but it was a great learning opportunity and I think we were a better team than the results said on paper,” Martin said.
“Around the world the standard is always getting better. Countries like the Netherlands and USA, they’re just incredible, and other countries like China for example, are becoming a real powerhouse. So it’s definitely made it trickier to qualify for these big tournaments, but I think there’s a lot of promise there.”
Join AUS Squad: the official cheer squad of the Australian Paralympic Team
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 13 October 2023
Image: Basketball Australia
